PA Conestoga Trail: Pequea Nature Trail Section

I sometimes forget to post about my local trails because, well, they are very local, my backyard or just up the road and I am guilty of taking them for granted. But since there are so many local sections of the long distance Conestoga Trail nearby, I thought this would be a good 2.5 mile out-and-back to share because it is so beautiful and easy to walk.

The Conestoga Trail is 63 miles long and bisects the Lancaster County north to south. I live just on the other side of the Susquehanna in York County and, along with the 200 mile-long Mason Dixon Trail, I consider the Conestoga as one of my backyard trails that I can jump on anytime. The Conestoga is broken up into day hike sections that often have their own names and trail blaze colors but the CT orange blazes can be seen on all of the shorter sections. The Pequea Creek Nature Trail is a mile-and-a-half section of the Conestoga and makes for a nice scenic out-and-back section for a morning hike. It is - unlike most of the Conestoga Trail - very flat.

Old postcard scene from the trolley line at Colemanville, Lancaster County, on Pequea Creek

This section was recently put under the care of the Lancaster Conservancy and is well marked and well kept. The marking may not be so important, however, as it follows the narrow railway of an old trolley line and you really can't get lost. The trolley was a popular line on weekends for workers and their families in Lancaster to ride down to the river. Day excursions were cheap and with a picnic basket, a fishing pole, and the kids, it made for a relaxing Saturday or Sunday day away from the city.

The old trolley line way makes for a flat walk.

Pequea Creek is mostly a slow moving afair as it meanders through Amish farmland in Lancaster County then it reaches the gorge near Martic Forge where a high ridge of folded metamorphic rock is cut-through and s steep gradient begins. Water squeezes through a series of ledges and a sharp triangle-shaped boulder. The place is named Suzy's Hole supposedly for someone who drowned there, but really it's a fantastic swimming hole and a paddler doesn't want to spill over the ledge into a crowd of summer swimmers. The place can be treacherous, however, and there is a walk-around for canoeists and kayakers - and a big sign that says "Get Out Here"

You have been warned.

Suzie's Hole.

Start of the gorge.

Amos was sporting his backpack and stopped every 200 yards to plead for the treats I'd packed him, so finally we stopped at a viewspot in the gorge and he snacked mightily on carrots and kibble. Before too long a large Irish setter wandered up off leash, a nice big boy, and he sat prettily for treats as well. Then his owner came up, apologized, and leashed him up to move on. I hope he got his own treat later.

Bore hole for s small blast charge, late 1800s. 

As the trail follows on there is evidence of old bridges, their abutments still standing hard against the steep hillside. Road builders and later, trolley line workers, left plenty of evidence of blasting and stone-cutting. A 19th century mill is on the opposite bank, reduced by floodwaters to some high foundation walls, a doorway, and settings for a flume.

Down and up again.

 

It must have been a thrilling trolley ride as the walls of the gorge close in and the tracks crossed rickety trestles over side creeks with their steep-sided ravines and tumbling waters. Passengers in the open-air trolley might have held their hands out and touched the boulders and ledges along this curving section of track.

Pequea Covered Bridge comes into view

The trail section ends at the Pequea Covered Bridge but CT hikers can continue on through the Pequea Campground and still see the trolley trackway for some distance. It ends in the river town of Pequea where houses cling to steep hillsides and the creek becomes a backwater when meets the Susquehanna. Amos and I, however, turned back at the covered bridge. He wasn't very happy about walking through it, nope, no way.  Besides, a pair of honking Canada Geese needed investigating down on the bank.

The longest covered bridge in Lancaster County.

An island already has its pair of Canada Geese for the nesting season ahead.

Amos isn't so sure about walking across the bridge. No like!

Our return trip was a bit warmer. At least my hands stopped hurting with cold.  We met Mica the wired-haired something-terrier and his dad. Mica was verrrry interested in what Amos had in his backpack, so we had a little picnic. Mica's dad said that his grandfather was a factory worker in the 1930s in Lancaster and had taken his family many times (including his dad as a child) to the town of Pequea for picnics and fishing. "I remember the tracks here," he said, "long after the trolleys stopped running."

A ravine creek. 

A connector to the Pequea line took passengers to the church camp at Rawlinsville.

While Mica's dad and I talked about the trolley line, Mica was helping himself to the backpack treats. Amos sat politely and let him take his fill. When his dad saw the crime-in-progress, Mica got a scolding and scoop ed up into his dad's arms. Oh well, burped Mica. We said our goodbyes and stopped one more time before getting to the car. Amos was sure there was something left for him in his backpack so I checked and voila! - two carrots slices and two pieces of kibble.

Amos was sure something remained in his backpack so he sat for me to check...

Pequea Creek at Martic Forge.

Notes:

Trolleys were a favorite way to get around Lancaster County a hundred years ago and according to this history, trolleys carried 12 million people around the county every year! Whoa.
https://unchartedlancaster.com/2019/04/11/100-years-ago-lancasters-trolleys-transported-12-million-people-annually-today-almost-all-signs-are-gone-join-the-search-for-the-lost-pequea-trolley/